Borussia Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck wasn’t the only player to emerge a star from BVB’s big Bundesliga victory over Mainz 05 this season. Schlotterbeck garnered plenty of attention as the unexpected supplier of two assists from his surprise tole as a set-piece taker. One nevertheless also shouldn’t forget that Maximilian Beier – in the absence of lead striker Serhou Guirassy – bagged a scorer’s brace.
The summer signing from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim recorded his first brace since joining his new club. Beier hasn’t proved a bust by any stretch of the imagination, with seven goals and five assists in 26 league appearances. The manner in which previous BVB head coach Nuri Sahin, interim coach Mike Tullberg, and current trainer Niko Kovac have flipped him around tactically still seems to have kept him from reaching his potential.
As Kovac himself revealed some weeks back, Beier doesn’t always appear comfortable together with Guirassy in a two-striker-set. The two players are a bit too much like one another in build and target-forward play. It is such that Beier always slants to the right wing. When it works, it works. Dortmund have won every single Bundesliga fixture in which Beier has scored
Matters were naturally different on Sunday. Beier played alongside Karim Adeyemi up top. Pascal Groß moved high to pair with Julian Brandt behind the two strikers on the second axis. The midfield trio of Yan Couto, Julian Ryerson, and Salih Özcan served ahead of a back-three consisting of Schlotterbeck, captain Emré Can, and Waldemar Anton.
The 3-3-2-2 performed excellently. Both Kovac and BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl addressed the tactical set-up in their post match comments. Obviously, Kovac will have to think something different up next weekend against SC Freiburg. Both Schlotterbeck and Yan Couto shall be unavailable due to accumulated yellow card suspensions.
Guirassy will also be back.
“It was the right solution against Mainz’s back-five,” Kehl said in the mixed zone afterwards. “We can play in different systems. Niko Kovac and his team will have their thoughts on how they want to play against Freiburg.“
“Of course we miss Serhou, but the two of them [Beier and Adeyemi] played differently than when we play with Serhou,” Kovač said at the presser “Serhou is someone who likes to make things happen.
“The two of them [Adeyemi and Beier] to look for depth and pull the opponent apart,” Kovac continued. “That’s also a good approach and I hope we can use that in the next few games.”
GGFN | Peter Weis
About Author
